


Suspend your Disbelief in Revolution

by HannahPelham



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Russian Royalty RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-04 05:12:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18336869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahPelham/pseuds/HannahPelham
Summary: In the summer of 1916, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Nikolaevna of Russia, eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Princess Alix of Hesse, meets quiet British revolutionary Gwilym Lee at her 24th birthday party. Their love will take them across Russia, near death, across Europe, and from the Russian Revolution to the Second World War.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lesbianr0gertayl0r](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianr0gertayl0r/gifts), [theinvisibledisaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinvisibledisaster/gifts).



Grand Duchess Ekaterina Nikolaevna of Russia ran down the halls of the Winter Palace, chased by her sisters. It was 11th July 1916, her 24th birthday. Her mother, Alexandra Feodorovna, still babied her, but her sisters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, treated her like an adult. She was always glad of their company as a result. Their little brother, Tsarevich Alexei shouted down after them, unable to run with them. 

 

Ekaterina had always been the odd one out of the Tsar’s 6 children. She was the oldest, born two years after her father, the-then Grand Duke Nicholas and now Tsar Nicholas II, and her mother, Princess Alix of Hesse, had married. She was the golden child, the first girl. Once her sisters had started coming along, the pressure on her mother to produce a son and heir had increased tenfold with each daughter. By the time Anastasia was born, 9 years after Ekaterina, Alexandra (as Alix was known in Russia) was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Thankfully, little Alexei had arrived 3 years later and was suitably babied by both his parents. Alexandra babied all the children. Ekaterina hadn’t minded until she’d turned 18 and potential marriages had been arranged. She’d been unofficially engaged to Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia at the age of 19, but had turned him down when he got down on one knee and asked her. She didn’t love him, so why should she marry him, she’d argued to her father and his ministers the next day as the Crown Prince went back to Serbia with his tail between his legs. 

 

Ekaterina had always believed in love. It was the one thing she truly believed in. She believed in God, of course, this is 1916 and she’s royalty, she has to, but love is the only thing that has properly captured her. She read copious amounts of romance novels and dreamed of finding somebody utterly perfect for her. 

 

That was the main reason she snuck out of the Palace so often. How would she meet the love of her life if she spent all of that life cooped up in Palaces and Castles away from the outside world?

 

She ducked behind a pillar as her sisters ran past, and quickly found her way to one of the secret passages shown to her by the servants. The passage led her directly to the outside world, to St Petersburg. She ducked out of the passage and into the summer air, jumping in the carriage that always took her into the city. Ekaterina thought her father might have an idea considering she always took a Palace carriage, but he hadn’t said anything and she was sure he would if he knew. She promised the driver that she’d be back in a few hours, and she made her way into St Petersburg. It had been renamed Petrograd nearly 2 years previously, but nobody in high society acknowledged it. It was, and always would be, St Petersburg to them. This time, though, she had permission from her mother. She’d been begging for a new dress for her birthday party and she’d been given permission to go alone. The only reason she’d snuck out was so her sisters didn’t join her. 

 

She returned to the palace within a few hours with a cream embroidered dress in her possession. The boutique had been all too happy to fit it to her then and there, they couldn’t believe that a Grand Duchess had come in on her own. 

 

When she descended the grand staircase of the Winter Palace wearing it a few hours later to a huge crowd of foreign royalty, diplomats, politicians, aristocracy, and friends, she took the air out of the room with her beauty. She had always been considered the most beautiful of the Tsar’s daughters, but this moment sealed the deal. Her sisters, in matching white dresses, ran from the crowd to meet her, and the five of them almost paraded through the rooms, showing themselves off. 

 

Ekaterina spent most of the party hiding in a corner, lest she be dragged into another dance by a diplomat or aristocrat three times her age. She felt somebody stand next to her, and she dreaded what she might see until she looked over. 

 

The man she locked eyes with wasn’t a lecherous diplomat. He was young, handsome, and offering her another glass of champagne. 

 

“Thank you” she said quietly, only just loud enough to be heard over the noise of the room.

 

“You’re welcome” he replied, speaking Russian perfectly but with an accent. 

 

“I’m Ekaterina”

 

“I gathered as much, Your Imperial Highness. I’m Gwilym”

 

“Gw-Gwilym?” She asked, faltering on the unusual name. 

 

“That’s right. It’s Welsh. I’m British.” He explained. Ekaterina was surprised. She hardly ever met British people in Russia, especially since the war started.

 

“Why aren’t you fighting?” She asked. A young man like him should be in the Army or Navy.

 

“Eyesight.” He replied, pulling a pair of glasses from his pocket. “Did you hear about the latest developments on the Western Front, Your Imperial Highness”

 

“No, I don’t get any news of the war unless it directly affects me, and it’s Ekaterina” She said, turning to face him more. She really took in his face for the first time. Gentle, noble, handsome. 

 

“I feel like I might get shot if I call you Ekaterina”

 

“Only if you do it in front of my father” Ekaterina joked, nodding in the direction of the Tsar, who was holding court with his ministers. 

 

“Imposing fellow” Gwilym whispered as he watched the most powerful man in Eastern Europe make an awful joke, and receive a response befitting the world’s greatest comedian. 

 

“Not particularly, he’s very gentle once you get to know him” Ekaterina replied, matching his volume. They watched him for a while, kissing socialites on the cheek as he marched through the room to be adored. 

 

“I doubt that’ll happen” Gwilym mused. 

 

“Why?” Ekaterina asked. To her, he seemed like a nice man that her father might like. 

 

“I’m a Communist, Ekaterina. The sworn enemy of the Imperial family” Gwilym admitted, whispering in her ear. 

 

“How are you in here, talking to me, then?” She replied, pulling back to look at him, stunned. 

 

“I blagged my way in. I had to see what the fuss was about” He smirked, looking deep into her eyes. 

 

“Fuss about what?” She asked. Gwilym was starting to see the innocence often attributed to the Grand Duchesses of Russia. 

 

“You”

 

“Me?”

 

“Well it is your birthday” He explained. 

 

“I know, I know, but I’m nothing special” She replied, looking down at herself disparagingly. 

 

“I beg to differ” Gwilym replied, offering her his arm so they could dance. 


	2. Chapter 2

All week after the party, all Ekaterina could think of was Gwilym. 

 

How had he gotten into the party? 

 

Was he really a Red? 

 

Why did he think she was special?

 

These were the sorts of things she’d talk over with the two eldest of her younger sisters, Olga and Tatiana, but she couldn’t. They couldn’t know she was infatuated by a foreign communist. She certainly couldn’t talk it through with Father Grigori Rasputin, preacher and trusted confidante of the rest of the family. Ekaterina was the only one who didn’t trust him, didn’t really speak to him. She had nobody to talk about Gwilym to, left to her own devices for the first time in her life. 

 

She didn’t know how she could contact him. She didn’t have his last name, let alone his address. She couldn’t look at the guest list for the party because he technically wasn’t invited. She’d have to hope god or the universe or  _ something _ brought him back into her path. 

 

She knew sneaking out into the city again would be her only chance of running into him. She had to try. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. That had to count for something, right?

 

The sun was shining bright, the early morning sun casting the Palace in a romantic, golden light. This had to be a good sign, Ekaterina thought, as she prepared to sneak from the Palace and into the city once more. 

 

She walked around, a lady-in-waiting not far behind. She realised early in her sneaking out career that if she took somebody with her she’d get in less trouble. It would also mean she had some support if something happened. The Royal Family were rarely seen in public, and she didn’t want to be on her own if some  _ bloody bolsheviks  _ came and attacked her. She may even be saved by her  _ bloody bolshevik.  _

 

The thought that Gwilym may be around the next corner kept Ekaterina excited all morning. She wanted nothing more than to be walking down the street or through a square and for his face to appear in the crowd. She didn’t think it would happen. She was convinced it would be a wasted day. It appeared to be a wasted day.

 

Until it wasn’t. 

 

Ekaterina’s eyes scanned the crowd in front of her, and her eyes found his. He was there. She hadn’t imagined him at the party. He was really there, and he was coming towards her. He smiled as he approached. 

 

“Your Imperial Highness” he whispered, not wanting to bring attention to the fact a member of the Royal Family was standing in a busy square, probably full of communists. 

 

“Hello, Gwilym” she replied. He offered his arm to her, and she took it as they walked around the city, looking like any other young couple in love. 

 

“What are you doing out of the Palace?” 

 

“I sneak out. I wanted to fin-I was…” Ekaterina stuttered. 

 

“What? It can’t be that bad, Ekaterina, if I can still call you that?” Gwilym replied, with a nervous smile. He didn’t want to overstep the mark. Just because she’d let him call her Ekaterina at the party, didn’t mean she’d do it again. 

 

“You can, and it’s rather embarrassing really” She protested.

 

“Oh, well now I have to know” He joked in reply. Ekaterina sighed heavily as her face flushed with embarrassment. 

 

“I was looking for you, if truth be told” She admitted after a moment or two. 

 

“Why?” he asked. 

 

“Why? Because I can’t stop thinking about you” Ekaterina replied, looking at him with complete affection. 

 

“I can’t stop thinking about you either, Ekater-”

 

“Katya...call me Katya” She interrupted. Gwilym smiled at the level of familiarity between them. 

 

“Well then, Katya, I can’t stop thinking about you either, but there’s no hope is there. You’re a royal, I’m a communist. We can’t, as much as we both want to” He admitted. 

 

“I know, I know, revolution is in the air and I have to be careful, but what’s life without a little risk?”

 

“It’s more than a little risk, Katya, and you know it. Besides, what will your father think?” Gwilym protested. He wanted to get to know her, to feel even stronger for her. He wanted to love her, but he knew he couldn’t, not with his political leanings and her position. 

 

“My father doesn’t have to know” Ekaterina replied, deadly serious. Gwilym was amazed by her boldness. It only made him like her more. 

 

“Are you sure about this?” He asked. 

 

“Completely” She replied. 

 

She nodded, and Gwilym quickly connected his lips to hers. Ekaterina had never been kissed before, and she felt like she was in heaven. Gwilym’s hand carefully made it into her hair, trying not to destroy the delicate updo, and Ekaterina’s arms soon found themselves around his neck, pulling him closer. 

 

Gwilym couldn’t believe his luck. He’d run into Ekaterina (he  _ definitely  _ hadn’t been looking for her). She’d been as infatuated by him as he had by her. She’d kissed him back. 

 

They had to be careful, of course. The Royal Family couldn’t find out. The bolsheviks and Gwilym’s fellow communists couldn’t find out. It had to be secret from absolutely everyone. Their relationship was to be just that - theirs. Ekaterina couldn’t confide in her sisters or her mother or in Rasputin about this. They only had each other, but that was alright. Gwilym didn’t mind. 

 

Ekaterina didn’t mind either. As Gwilym’s hands moved from her hair to her waist, Ekaterina was sure she never wanted to leave his company. She wanted those hands on her waist, those lips on hers, for the rest of her life. She thought that might be a little dramatic, but the point stood firm. She wanted Gwilym. She wanted her first relationship to also be her last. 

 

Now she’d had a taste of it, it would take more than war or revolution to stop her now. 


End file.
